We Keep Coding

Grunt source file relative path

Why must the leading slash be removed in the source file paths in order for Grunt to properly locate the files? The gruntfile is in the main project older along with the "includes" folder that contains the JS files.
module.exports = function(grunt) {
var SiteMasterHeaderArray = [
"/includes/js/knockout/knockout-3.4.0.js",
"/includes/js/common/common.js"
];
grunt.initConfig({
pkg: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json'),
uglify: {
dest: {
files: {
'dest/SiteMasterHeader.js': SiteMasterHeaderArray
}
}
}
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-uglify');
grunt.registerTask('default', ['uglify']);
};
The destination file isn't written because (at least it appears this way to me) that Grunt is searching some other location for these files due to the "/" in the file path. Remove the slash and the function works perfectly.

A leading / means it's an absolute path and it's looking for it, starting from the root directory. Without that, it's searching for a relative path from where Gruntfile.js is.
If you'd like paths to be relative to a different folder than Gruntfile, please see grunt.file.setBase or the --base cli option. More information here.

Uglify - javascript error coming using the uglified clubbed file

I am using grunt to club various javascript files and minify them all. e.g
module.exports = function (grunt) {
grunt.initConfig({
uglify: {
build: {
src: ['js/jquery-1.7.min.js','js/common.js','js/drop_down.js', 'js/main_jquery.js', 'js/tooltip.js', 'js/html5shiv.js','js/MathJax/MathJax.js','js/angular-1.2.15.min.js','js/ui-bootstrap-tpls-0.9.0.js'],
dest: 'js/output.min.js'
}
}
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-uglify');
grunt.registerTask('default', ['uglify']);
On using output.js in place of src files, I am getting surprising javascript errors.
e.g.This error results from the $injector being unable to resolve a required dependency. To fix this, make sure the dependency is defined and spelled correctly.
I am curious to know how does uglify deal with variables with same name in two files. What could all be the reason for javascript errors?

Gruntfile issue with grunt-contrib-requirejs

I'm configuring my Gruntfile and I'm stuck on something I feel should be possible but I'm not able to find the right configuration for it. I'm trying to copy my bower components to my dist on build with the grunt-contrib-requirejs module. The part I'm stuck on is keeping the folder structure in tact when copying to dist.
My app's basic structure, and dist/ should build the same way
Gruntfile.js
app/
- assets/
- bower_components/
- js/
- img/
- etc/
- index.html
Currently, I define each file in the copy module and it copy's them all over
copy: {
dist: {
files: [{
expand: true,
dot: true,
cwd: 'app',
dest: 'dist',
src: [
'*.{ico,png}',
'.htaccess',
'partials/**/*',
// Bower Components
'assets/bower_components/requirejs/require.js',
'assets/bower_components/fastclick/lib/fastclick.js',
'assets/bower_components/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js',
'assets/bower_components/modernizr/modernizr.js'
]
}]
}
},
But I want to eliminate this and use the paths I've already defined in main.js to copy these files over. Less hardcoded stuff, more automation.
My require task
requirejs: {
dist: {
options: {
mainConfigFile: app + '/assets/js/main.js',
dir: dist + '/assets/js',
optimize: 'uglify',
paths: {
modernizr: 'empty:',
jquery: 'empty:',
fastclick: 'empty:'
}
}
}
},
This current configuration combined with copy moves them all over properly. If I could eliminate the paths property all together and use directory properties only that would be great. If I have to copy my paths from my main.js into here thats ok... if it's the only way to do it.
Let me know if you need any more info!

The JS files in your bower directory should be included in the optimized output of requirejs, as long as they are configured and referenced in your require js app. If they're not referenced as dependencies, I don't think they get included.
The ico, png, htaccess and other files may need to be copied over manually.
Depending on your partials, the text plugin and hbs plugin could compile those into the optimized file I think.
I think defining empty: in paths are for using network resources (e.g. when using CDNs instead of using local bower libraries), so the paths config is probably unnecessary

Grunt + require.js config for a simple website

I have the following simple structure for my website:
src
js
core.js
main.js
lib
jquery-1.8.2.js
require-2.1.1.js
require-text.js
templates
1.html
2.html
index.html
build
I want all js+lib files to be compiled into one build/js/main.js file and other files just to be copied to build folder. How to write grunt.js config for this task? It seems I should use grunt-contrib-require..
The second question is how to compile 1.html and 2.html (I use require text! plugin) into one line for each and include theese lines to build/js/main.js? This case there should be only two files into build folder - index.html and main.js.

Take a look at grunt-contrib-requirejs and see if it is helpful to you.

The Grunt Website offers a very good tutorial to get you started, this is what you will need:
grunt-contrib-concat - To put files together in one
grunt-contrib-copy - To copy files to your "build" folder
grunt-usemin - To use the compiled js file in your html
I am not sure how to put those html files together though, feels weird to do that but maybe you can find a plugin for it.

Your Gruntfile.js should reside at the root of the directory i.e ls should show src/ build/ Gruntfile.js
Contents of `Gruntfile.js specific for your requirements:
module.exports = function (grunt) {
grunt.initConfig({
pkg: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json'),
concat: {
js: {
src: [
'src/js/*', 'src/lib/*'
],
dest: 'build/js/combined.js'
}
},
uglify: {
js: {
files: {
'build/js/main.js': ['build/js/combined.js']
}
}
},
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-concat');
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-uglify');
grunt.registerTask('default', ['concat:js', 'uglify:js']);
};
I don't think require-js to be used here. Require-js is helpful when you need to load your js scripts in a specific order. If that being the case add the below code in your Gruntfile.js just below pkg: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json'), line
requirejs: {
compile: {
options: {
baseUrl: "path/to/base",
mainConfigFile: "path/to/config.js",
name: "path/to/almond", // assumes a production build using almond
out: "path/to/optimized.js"
}
}
}

You might consider adding grunt-require to the list that luschn put together. It uses r.js, has lots of options, and is pretty darn nice.

reference multiple js files in a single line in a html file

Is there an easy way to reference all js files in an HTML file rather than referencing it one by one?
Instead of this -
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/controllers/mainCtrl.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/controllers/browseCtrl.js"></script>
...
I'm looking for something like this -
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/controllers/*.js"></script>
Or is there a tool out there that copies the contents of these files into one file and reference that one file instead? This will be minimize the HTTP calls.

Is there an easy way to reference all js files in an HTML file rather than referencing it one by one?
For some value of "easy". There is nothing built in to browsers that will do it though.
Or is there a tool out there that copies the contents of these files into one file and reference that one file instead?
There are many. cat is the simplest one.
Call it from your usual build tool.
You can use something like require.js to combine them at runtime during development, and call r.js via Node from your build tool for packaging for your staging and live environments.

You can give Require.js a go. Require.js is the only JavaScript-file that is loaded through the script-tag. When you go out of development you can use Require.js's r.js to minify and concat everything into one file.

I use this tool all the time to minify my JS files:
Online Javascript Compression Tool
You can upload multiple files and it will concatenate them into one for you. It also produces smaller filesizes than YUI compressor, and Google's JS compiler most of the time too.

I am not sure why this hasn't been mentioned yet, but I do suppose this thread is a bit dated. Since I stumbled on this during my search to solve this very problem, I thought I would put a quick write-up about GruntJS here for other newbie JS guys to find.
Essentially, a properly configured Gruntfile.js will be able to perform a variety of tasks around JS including, but not limited to: concatenating files, minifying files, code linting, and much much more.
You can install grunt on Ubuntu with:
$ sudo apt-get install nodejs
$ sudo npm -g install grunt-cli
$ cd /path/to/my/project
--- Assumming you have a package.json file already in place ---
$ npm install grunt --save-dev
--- Install grunt plugins you wish to use ---
$ npm install grunt-contrib-concat --save-dev
$ npm install grunt-contrib-uglify --save-dev
$ npm install grunt-contrib-jshint --save-dev
$ npm install grunt-contrib-watch --save-dev
On the GruntJS site, there is a pretty good write-up for how to use GruntJS, but here is an example Gruntfile.js that will:
Lint all the JS files (app.js in the current directory and all .js files in the ngmodules directory).
Concatenate and save the files to dist/package-name.js.
Minify the concatenated file and save it to dist/package-name.min.js.
Gruntfile.js:
module.exports = function(grunt) {
grunt.initConfig({
pkg: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json'),
concat: {
options: {
separator: ';'
},
dist: {
src: ['app.js', 'ngmodules/**/*.js'],
dest: 'dist/<%= pkg.name %>.js'
}
},
uglify: {
options: {
banner: '/*! <%= pkg.name %> <%= grunt.template.today("dd-mm-yyyy") %> */\n'
},
dist: {
files: {
'dist/<%= pkg.name %>.min.js': ['<%= concat.dist.dest %>']
}
}
},
jshint: {
files: ['Gruntfile.js', 'app.js', 'ngmodules/**/*.js'],
options: {
// options here to override JSHint defaults
globals: {
jQuery: true,
console: true,
module: true,
document: true
}
}
},
watch: {
files: ['<%= jshint.files %>'],
tasks: ['jshint']
}
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-uglify');
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-jshint');
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-watch');
grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-concat');
grunt.registerTask('default', ['jshint', 'concat', 'uglify']);
};

There is also Gulp (http://gulpjs.com/), which can be used with various plugins. Here's an example that concatenates *.js files in one single file (main.js), then renames the resulting file and finally minifies it:
var gulp = require('gulp'),
rename = require('gulp-rename'),
uglify = require('gulp-uglify'),
concat = require('gulp-concat');
gulp.task('scripts', function(){
return gulp.src('./src/js/*.js')
.pipe(concat('main.js'))
.pipe(rename({suffix: '.min'}))
.pipe(uglify())
.pipe(gulp.dest('./src/js/*.js'));

You can try and combine your javascript files or plugins into one:
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/controllers/plugins.js"></script>
You'll have to do it manually though.
Another option would be to write a server-side script to combine and minify all your javascript files.